


The Greatest Gift

by Ellana17



Series: Christmas Cheer [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, M/M, Time Travel, young avengers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 02:36:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9102715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellana17/pseuds/Ellana17
Summary: "Wanda and Scott both touched the stone and since Cassie is Lang’s daughter, you two can only be Wanda’s.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve had this idea of the Young Avengers travelling back in time by accident in the back of my head for months now but I didn’t know what to do with it. Then I watched Doctor Strange and everything kind of fell into place.
> 
> I had to bend the timeline a bit to accommodate the story to what we already know of the MCU and the Young Avengers comics. This takes place after Children Crusade (minus all the deaths) but Cassie is 25-ish while Billy, Teddy and Tommy are 16.  
> And well, I’m apparently not over what happened in Civil War yet.

The fight with Thanos had been the greatest challenge the team had ever faced. Defeating Thanos had not been the end of their adventure, though. By destroying the gauntlet, the team had scattered the stones by accident and had spent the last few weeks trying to retrieve them all before they fall into the wrong hands once more. They had just found the time stone in the hands of a wannabe Hydra mastermind. The fight that had resulted had not been pretty.

“We should probably get it back to Strange. Wanda can take it back to New York,” Barton said, finally lowering his bow.

“Is it a good idea?” Steve asked, clearly concerned.

Barton shrugged. “Sure, I mean I don’t trust the guy but he seems to like Wanda well enough.”

“I wasn’t talking about that. I’m not sure keeping this thing on Earth is the best way to go,” he explained, turning to Thor. The Asgardian glanced at his teammate.

“As much as it pains me to say so, Asgard is not the safest place for the stones. My father’s vault was not enough to protect the one we already had.”

“He’s got a point,” Tony cut in. “Thanos had no trouble waltzing into that vault and taking the stones.” Steve nodded reluctantly. “Strange’s probably our safest option right now.” Iron Man turned to Wanda. “So, what do you think?”

Wanda took a few steps forward and stopped just a few feet away from the stone. “This stone is too dangerous to remain unprotected,” she trailed off as she extended a shaky hand towards the artefact. A blinding light suddenly flooded the room as Wanda’s hand came into contact with the stone.

“Watch out!” Scott exclaimed as he grabbed her arm.

“Guys, come on, get a room!”

The team turned as one towards the sound of the voice. They were all baffled to notice a young man with white hair standing in the middle of the room. They followed his gaze to two other teenagers heavily making out and who had not seemed to notice their presence yet, as well as a young woman in a black and red suit.

“What- Tommy?” exclaimed the brown-haired boy.

“We actually were in a room,” the blond boy pointed out. “Which was not this one…” he trailed off, looking around him.

“Dad!” the girl exclaimed, rushing into Scott’s arms.

“Peanut?” he asked disbelievingly as he hugged back the twenty-ish version of his own daughter.

Cassie then proceeded to hug Hope just as tightly. “Cassie? What’s going on here?” the Wasp asked finally while Cassie hugged Tony next. Iron Man’s eyes got wide.

“I have no idea,” one of the boy – Tommy, apparently – said. “One minute I’m just chilling out and next thing I know I’m right here with you guys. Where is here exactly? Or rather _when_?”

“You’re right,” Cassie said, finally letting go of Tony. “Don’t take it the wrong way, Uncle Tony, but you look way too young,” she said, scrunching up her nose.

“Everybody just stops for a second,” Steve finally exclaimed in what Tony used to call his “Captain America voice”. “Who are you? Where did you come from?”

“I’m with Cap on this one,” Barton said. “What the hell is going on here?”

The brown-haired boy pinched the bridge of his noise before turning to his boyfriend. “Time travel?”

The blond nodded. “Do you think you could have…”

“I don't think so,” he frowned. “I know I lose control over my powers sometimes, especially when we're- you know,” he trailed off as Tommy faked gag, making Cassie giggle. “But that definitely wasn't me,” he concluded in a steady voice.

“It’s the stone,” Scott stated. “I felt something weird when I touched it.” Wanda nodded wordlessly.

“Well, now we know why Hydra wanted it,” Steve stated. “Did you know it could do that?” he asked Thor.

The Asgardian shook his head. “The power of the stones has been lost for eons, nobody knows how much power they possess on their own.”

“That’s actually pretty awesome, you know, time travel and all,” the brown-haired boy cut in. “But I actually have math homework I really need to do, so if we could figure out a way to send us back, we’d be on our way,” he said, not looking at them.

“You mean the homework you wanted _Tony_ to do for you,” the blond pointed out cheekily.

“Cut it out, you two,” Tommy mumbled.

“We’re not even doing anything!”

“You’re acting overly cute. You're even worse than those two,” Cassie explained, waving a hand in Tony and Steve’s general direction. Her eyes got wide when she noticed their matching looks of surprise.

“I don’t think they are married yet,” the blond stage whispered.

“No shit,” the other one replied.

“What do you mean you’re not married?” Cassie exclaimed suddenly. Then she pointed an accusing finger at Scott and Hope. “Tell me you two are married at least,” she pleaded.

Hope’s look turned from baffled to somewhat apologetic. “We’re not married… yet?”

Cassie threw her hands up. “I can’t believe this!”

“Come on, Cassie, at least you know you’re already born. What year is it anyway?” Tommy asked as Cassie let out a sigh of relief.

Tony was the one to finally answer them. “It’s 2018.”

“Wow,” Tommy exclaimed, turning to the others. “What the hell? How are we supposed to go back?”

Tony was ready to answer the boy when Steve cut him short. “Should we be telling them all this? We don’t even know who they are.”

“Well, we’ve already established that this one is Lang’s daughter, and the twins,” he said, waving a hand in the boys’ direction, “are Wanda’s sons.”

“How do you know that?” Tommy asked in disbelief.

“It was a reasonable deduction,” Tony explained. “Wanda and Scott both touched the stone and since Cassie is Lang’s daughter, you two can only be Wanda’s.”

“That’s crazy,” Barton cut in.

“I don’t have any children,” Wanda reminded them.

Tommy shrugged. “Well not yet at least. Hi, Mom.” His twin brother elbowed him in the stomach. “What? We need their help to get back anyway, I don’t think your mojo is going to help us much.” The other boy rolled his eyes but nodded nonetheless.

“So, you’re Cassie, and you’re Tommy, but who are you two?” Natasha asked, a tad suspicious.

“I’m Teddy and this is Billy,” the blond answered as his boyfriend remained silent.

“We’re the Young Avengers!” Cassie added.

“There, Cap, see?” Tony said. “Wanda and Scott each touched the time stone which led to their future kids showing up, that’s-”

“Perfectly normal for us,” Barton deadpanned.

“If Tony’s right, what am I doing here, then?” Teddy asked.

“Well,” Tony started. “You two were obviously standing very close so-”

Teddy cleared his throat awkwardly. “Right. That obviously makes perfect sense.”

“What are we going to do with them?” Natasha asked. “We need to figure out a way to send them back.”

“Did you guys meet Stephen yet?” Billy asked Natasha. The red-haired nodded. “Great, I’m sure he can figure something out.”

“Are you still trying to have him train you?” Tommy asked his brother with a smirk.

“He’ll come around, you know, eventually,” Billy said.

“That’s a good thing the Quinjet is big enough for all of us,” Barton pointed out. “So, back to New York?”

“We’ll drop you off to your house first,” Tony told him.

“And miss all the fun?” Barton exclaimed. “No way. I can tag along to New York with you guys and still be on time for Christmas dinner,” he said.

“Where are we anyway?” Cassie asked with interest.

“Russia,” Steve answered. Cassie nodded, impressed. “Let’s go then.”

Sam glanced curiously at Steve when he saw the group enter the Quinjet.

“Hi, Sam!” Cassie exclaimed as the man’s eyes went wide. “You wouldn’t happen to have some of your mother’s cookies with you, right? I’m famished.”

“Come on, Cassie,” Billy told her reproachfully. “Could you at least try to keep quiet about the future?”

“The future?” Sam asked in disbelief.

“Later,” Steve mouthed, shaking his head.

o

Cassie actually managed to stay quiet most of the trip; she did slip a couple times though, calling Hope “mom” by mistake. Billy and Teddy were talking quietly in a corner of the Quinjet, Tommy was taping his foot impatiently. Wanda had yet to say a word. Both Natasha and Thor were watching them all warily. The trip back to New York seemed to take ages and Tommy was the first one to race out of the Quinjet.

“Wow, he’s fast,” Barton noted, impressed.

They made their way to the Sanctum Sanctorum and rang the bell. Christine Palmer opened the door, barely blinking an eye at seeing the Avengers gathered on her doorstep. She stepped aside to let them in.

“Hi, Mrs. Strange!” Cassie greeted pleasantly before Billy hit her in the stomach.

“Hi, Christine,” Tony greeted. “Is Stephen here?”

“Stephen!” she called loudly. “You got visitors!” She closed the door, revealing the Christmas wreath that had just been hung at the back of the door. The team then noticed the tinsel in one of Christine’s hand and the hammer she held in the other.

The dematerialized head of Stephen Strange suddenly appeared in the corridor, making Sam jump in fright. “Every freaking time,” Sam mumbled.

“Ah, yes, I’ve been expecting you,” Strange told them in a smooth voice.

“What do you mean?” Tommy asked suspiciously.

“That’s so cool,” Teddy whispered, amazed.

Stephen Strange did not give them any answer. Instead, he turned to Christine. “Could you lead them to the living room, my dear? And do take that preposterous thing off,” he said, nodding towards the door.

“No way,” Doctor Palmer countered. “It’s Christmas!”

Strange rolled his eyes at her before disappearing into thin air. “This way,” Christine told them as they made their way inside the house. She opened the door and they found Stephen Strange sitting in a very comfy looking chair, his chin resting on his folded hands, clearly waiting for them.

“What did you do this time?” Strange asked without preamble.

“It wasn’t me!” Sam and Billy exclaimed at the same time then glanced at each other, surprised.

“It was the stone,” Wanda explained calmly as she unfolded the handkerchief in which she had put the time stone. She handed it over carefully to Strange. “Something happened when I touched it,” she went on. “There was a bright light. Then Scott touched it too and those guys came out of nowhere.”

Strange nodded. “I did feel a disturbance earlier today,” he said slowly.

“You felt a disturbance in the Force?” Teddy asked cheekily, making Tony snort. Strange glanced at them both, clearly not impressed.

“A disturbance in the time continuum,” Strange clarified. “When Wanda touched the stone with her bare hands,” he trailed off with a scolding look at Wanda, “she inadvertently activated the power of the stone. Do you have any idea how powerful this stone is?” he scolded them as Sam mumbled, “We actually do.” Strange ignored the interruption. “You’re lucky you didn’t open a bigger breach in time. All kind of things could have come out of that breach.”

“Like what?” Barton asked, curious.

“How do you feel about fighting pterodactyls at the moment, Mr. Barton?” Strange asked, turning his piercing gaze on the archer.

“I think I’ll pass,” Barton said.

“I need to consult my books,” Strange said, obviously thinking out loud and not directly to any of them anymore. He got up smoothly, his cape floating around his shoulders. “Thor, Wanda, Mr. Lang, I might need your assistance at some point,” he told them. “Come along.”

As the four of them left the room, Scott glanced at the team nervously.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the crazy around here,” Christine said. “I’ll bring you something to drink while you wait,” she said before leaving the room as well.

“Should we tell her about the kids?” Tommy whispered once the woman was out of earshot.

On the other side of the room, Natasha sat down next to Steve. “How are you holding up?” she asked quietly.

“I’m fine,” Steve assured her, surprised by her question. “Why are you asking?”

Natasha shrugged. “You tell me,” she said simply.

Steve gave her a look. “Come on, Nat, you know your mind games don’t work on me,” he told her without heat. “So, what is it you want to know?”

“Do you want to talk about what Cassie said? About you and Tony, I mean.”

“There’s nothing to say about it,” Steve countered stubbornly as Christine came back to the living room with a tray full of drinks and food. “I’ve already told you that, Nat, I don’t see why you keep insisting there is.”

“Because I can see something’s going on here, even if you can’t,” she told him gently. “Even if you don’t want to admit it. I only have your best interests at heart; you know that, right? That’s why I’m telling you that you need to make the first move here, because Tony definitely won’t.”

“Nat…” Steve said, pleading.

Natasha shook her head firmly. “I’ve been letting you off the hook for months now but it can’t go on like that. Your future’s been literally staring at you in the face and you still won’t get a move on! Why?”

“Because I’m afraid, alright,” Steve said in a hushed tone. “I’m afraid of what would happen to the team if we didn’t work out.”

“You’re not afraid of him not liking you back,” Natasha realized suddenly.

Steve shook his head. “I know he does. He’s not really subtle, you know,” he told her with a faint smile. Natasha nodded. “We can’t afford the distraction,” he told her seriously. “Or take the risk of endangering the team. We barely manage as it is, so imagine what would happen if Tony and I ever split up.”

“Like what happened a couple years ago, you mean?” she asked with a smirk. “I knew there was more to it than a simple divergence in opinions.”

“Come on, Natasha, be serious. You weren’t there, you didn’t see what happened. I almost killed him,” Steve told her, eyes wide. “He might forgive me for what happened one day but I know I won’t ever forgive myself.”

“And I think you’re too hard on yourself,” Natasha stated. “We’ve all done things we’re not proud of,” she told him gently. “We need to find a way to live with it.” Steve simply shook his head and remained silent. “Think about it, okay?” she said putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. She then got up and walked to the other side of the room where Hope, Tony and Cassie were apparently having an animated discussion.

Tommy had offered his help in decorating the house for Christmas with his superspeed, jumping on the occasion to stretch his legs. He had just come back into the room, glitters from the tinsels still on his hands, when Wanda and Scott walked into the room.

“Strange has found a way to send them back,” Wanda informed them as Scott slowly made his way to Hope.

“Awesome,” Cassie exclaimed. “We’ll be just in time for dinner,” she said with a smile to her team. “Where is Strange anyway?” she asked, turning to Scott.

“Apparently, he needed more time to find some kind of spell,” Scott trailed off.

“He’s trying to find a spell that would allow him to safely erase our memory,” Wanda explained calmly.

“What do you mean ‘erase our memory’?” Natasha asked with a frown.

“Knowing the future is too dangerous,” Wanda started, glancing at Billy as the boy left the room quietly. “Strange said we’re not supposed to know about what’s going to happen, it would automatically influence our actions and any change could have unforeseeable consequences.”

“Well, that sucks,” Cassie mumbled as Teddy made his way out of the room.

“Are you okay?” the shapeshifter asked quietly when he found Billy in the corridor, his back against the wall. Billy nodded. “I thought you’d be thrilled,” Teddy told him. “We just got back in time, how awesome is that?”

“Pretty awesome,” Billy answered in a weak voice.

“Hey,” Teddy said, grabbing Billy wrist gently, making him turn around. “What’s going on with you? You’ve been kind of avoiding everyone.”

“We know what’s going to happen,” Billy told him, distressed. “And thinking that we could somehow prevent it… I just- It’s so hard not telling her anything about it.”

“You know you can’t,” Teddy reminded him gently. “That’s why Strange’s going to erase their memory.”

“I know,” Billy mumbled, letting his head fall on Teddy’s shoulder as the blond wrapped his arms around Billy’s middle.

“You really were thinking about changing the future,” Teddy realized. He felt Billy nod against his shoulder. “We can’t take the risk of messing up with the past, or rather the future, whatever,” Teddy said. “What if one of the consequences Wanda talked about is us never meeting each other?” he asked quietly. “I can’t live without you, Kaplan.”

That at least got a small laugh out of Billy. “It’s so hard saying goodbye,” he said.

“I know,” Teddy told him gently, tightening his embrace.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Billy said, burring his face into his boyfriend’s shoulder.

As he held Billy in his arms, Teddy saw from the corner of his eyes Tony and Steve making their way to the small kitchen at the other end of the corridor.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Tony started once they were alone.

“I just wanted to know how you’re holding up. You barely said two words since the kids showed up; that’s pretty unusual for you,” Steve pointed out.

Tony shrugged. “The past few weeks have been sort of crazy,” he said simply.

“Thanks for saving my life back there,” Steve added when he realized Tony had clearly no intention of saying anything else. “When we were fighting Thanos, I mean.”

“You would have done the same for me,” Tony dismissed.

“You know I would,” Steve told him seriously.

Tony finally glanced up and met Steve’s intense gaze. He cleared his throat. “Steve, look-”

“No,” Steve cut him short. “I need to tell you this.”

“You realize we won’t remember any of this, right?” Tony asked with the hint of a smile. “You’ll have to do this all over again later. That seems a bit pointless, if you ask me.”

“It’ll be worth it,” Steve stated as Tony shook his head in disbelief but stayed quiet all the same. “I’ve been talking to Natasha about this and it made me realized that I had absolutely no reason to hold back. I don’t know why I’ve been so afraid of my feelings for you all this time; I can’t really explain it,” he trailed off. “What I can tell you, though, is that I’m done being afraid. We’ve just fought a titan, for God’s sake, and we survived. But we need to do more than merely survive. We need to live. We need to live our lives to the fullest and we need a reason to keep fighting too. Fighting to protect the people we care about is as good a reason as any.”

“You’ve been thinking about this, haven’t you?” Tony asked quietly. “About us, I mean.”

Steve nodded. “I didn’t want to say anything before we faced Thanos because we couldn’t afford the distraction at the time. Thanos is gone now,” he said. “And what Cassie said got me thinking. We’ve been so focused on that one big threat for so long that we’ve lost sight of what we would do once he was gone. There’ll always be new threats, of course, that’s part of the job and every single member of the team is aware of that but I’m done putting my life on hold.”

“Are you sure you want to do this, Steve?” Tony asked. “After everything that has happened between us? All the fighting? Do you really think we could work out?”

“I think it’s worth a try,” Steve answered matter-of-factly.

Tony shook his head in disbelief. “I’m going to kiss you now, just so you know,” he told Steve after a bit. “I know Strange’s going to erase our memory anyway but-” Steve cut him short by grabbing the hem of the suit and crushing their lips together.

o

“It’s time,” Strange said, walking into the living-room with Thor.

“Great,” Cassie exclaimed. “I did tell my mom and step-dad that I would be home for Christmas this year. They’re probably worried sick right now.”

“And Hope and your dad are probably leading a search party as we speak,” Tommy added.

“Where’s Steve?” Wanda asked, looking around.

“He’s with Tony. They’re in the other room… talking,” Billy answered her. Wanda glanced at the boy, surprised. It was the first time he talked to her directly since he had arrived here. She seemed all the more surprised when the boy practically jumped into her arms and hugged her tightly. For just one second it all seemed so tempting. A few simple words could prevent so much pain and sorrow. He could not, though. Billy could not change the past but that did not mean he had to accept it. “We’ll always find our way back to you,” he whispered. Billy stepped back slowly and brushed a few tears away.

“Thanks,” Billy said, turning to Strange.

“There’s no need to thank me,” the man said. “Now, gather here,” he said pointing at the center of the room. “And stay quiet. This requires concentration,” he said as a bright light flooded the room. When the light disappeared, the Young Avengers were gone.

o

“What do you mean you can’t tell us what happened?” Tony exclaimed a few minutes later. “You decided to erase our memory for some reason and you can’t tell us why?”

“That’s the point, Tony,” Strange answered calmly. “Trust me, you’re better off not knowing.”

“Strange is right, my friends,” Thor told them seriously.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Tony exclaimed. “He didn’t erase _your_ memory.”

“But I shall keep what happened today a secret,” Thor stated.

Barton rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I should get going. I can’t be late, again. Come on, Nat. Laura will have my head if we’re not on time for dinner.”

Stephen Strange and Christine Palmer watched the Avengers make their way out of the mansion and get back to the Quinjet. They did not hear what Natasha whispered to Rogers on the way there, but they did hear him exclaim “Natasha!” in a high-pitched voice.

Christine laughed. “You have some pretty odd friends, Strange,” she told him, smiling.

When he turned around, Strange noticed the mistletoe in her hand and raised an eyebrow.

“Come on,” she said, holding it over her head with a grin.

Strange kissed her as he pushed the door shut.

 

**THE END**

**Author's Note:**

> During the surgery scene in Doctor Strange I couldn’t help but imagine what it would be like at home for them; Christine would be trying to have half a normal life while Stephen would spend his time flying around the house. I think it would be absolutely hilarious.


End file.
